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Thread: Queen worries...

  1. #21
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    They may tear down the queen cell(s) after the virgin emerges so there might be no sign now. Often you can see something. However if there are no polished cells then I think that you can assume this one is queenless.

  2. #22

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    Odd, but no sign of Varroa and floor scraping test was negative, but I continue to monitor... Mind you, have not checked since I had a lump of comb from Phil.

  3. #23
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    I am not certain if all the Oban area has varroa. I picked up some dead bees from a ferral colony that was living in Lunga house 24 miles south of Oban. According to the owner the colony has been there for a number of years. I am currently checking the wings to see if they are native

  4. #24
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    Varroa is certainly in the area Jim - Phil has tracked its appearance and progress. There will be colonies in the area without Varroa as it hasn't been around for long. This provisional map:

    http://www.sbai.org.uk/varroamapping/

    isn't fully accurate but Kate is trying to collect data to update it so that we can encourage folk not to move bees into Varroa-free areas. Whether the sellers of bees in the Highlands will cooperate is another matter. One prominent supplier did not agree with Doris when she suggested a voluntary ban on sending bees to the Orkneys.

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    Hi Gavin, You may be right. I looked at the map and I think Lunga house is on the border of known varroa and suspect varroa. The owner would like the colony removed if anybody is interested. I had a look but it looks difficult as the colony is the the wall/roof of the building. The bees were nice and gentle as they did not bother the wedding guests and were not concerned about the band/dancing/drinking to the wee small hours under their nest although the drummer did get buzzed once during a strip the willow!

  6. #26
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    Phil's good at removing feral colonies, I believe. Why not PM him?

    Gavin, I believe there's a commercial supplier of bees and queens on Colonsay. I trust he doesn't have varroa yet!

  7. #27
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    Hi Trog,

    I gave the owner of Lunga House details of how to contact the secretary of the Oban beekeepers to see if they could help him. The supplier on Colonsay is Andrew Abraham who has native stock and no varroa I hope.

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    Hi Jimbo

    I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek about Andrew Abrahams, given that the Mull Association has just acquired two nucs from him!! Gavin must just have forgotten to mention him as a commercial supplier of bees!

  9. #29
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    I was being deliberately a little vague about what I mean by 'in the Highlands' but I'm sure you can guess. Andrew's bees will probably be Varroa-free a lot longer than yours Trog!

  10. #30

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    So, these bees at Lunga... it's local, will ask Phil is anyone is going to try and get them, I have a useful husband who is experienced roofer and fits into small spaces, but not experienced much with bees (other than catching a swarm 20ft up a large willow for me!).

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